Needle guard for sewing machines



Aug. 3 1926. 1,594,663

- J. E. CHALMAN NEEDLE GUARD FOR SEWING- MACHINES Filed Sept. 29, 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet v1 MHH 'I l i, IIIIII w Aug. 3, 1926.

' 1,594,663 J. E. CHALMAN NEEDLE GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept- 29, 1922 3 Sheets- Sheet 2 Aug. 3 1926. 1,594,663

J. E. CHALMAN NEEDLE GUARD en sswmemcmuss Filed sept- 29, 1922 3 Sfieets-Sheet s I {O I I l Patented Aug. 3, 1926.

UNITED STATES rare-N t o-F'Fictl JOHN E. CI'IALMAN', OF CHIOAGO, ILLINOIS ASSIGIIOR TO UNION SPECIAL MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIfi A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

NEEDLE ettARD Fon sen/"ins MACHINES.

Application filed September 2a, 1922, serial at. 591,232.

Tlie inventioni relates renew and useful iinp'rovenieiits" in needle giiarfds' for sewing machines, and more particularly to a needle guard for a sewing machine having'a' thread carrying looper inoi ahle hack and forth in the" generahdireotion ofthelliiie of feed.

An" Object of the me i is a nefe itlle" guard for a sewing inaehine of above type needle'guard s mounted on the Work support of the SGWlllglllfiChllle is suspended"therefrom in siiclr a inan- I ner asto permit he loo per to move over thaws oi the needle guard. l I p ,A further oh jeot of the intention to provide a needle guard for each needlein a multiple needle sewing machine anda co1n inon supportfor all or the needle guards.

These and other ohieets Will in part be obvious and will in part he hereinafter more fully diselosed. I o V v In the drawings whieh show by Way of illustration one embodiment of the inveni .Y Figni'e 1 is a iew partly in end elevation and partly in Vertical sectionsh'o wing I a sewing machine having my improvement embodied therein;

Fig'l 2 is a longitudinal' sectional View on the line of the needle of said machine;

Fig.3 is a hottoni plan View of the throat plate removed from the machine;

Figi 4 is a section on the line M of ki' i a ;Fig". 5 is' a section on the line 5-'5 of Figs 3; p v

.Fig. 6 is a detail showing more or less diagrannnatic ally. in side iew the needle, the looper and the needle guard when the looper point is passingthe needle I I Fig. 7 is a plan View of the needle, the needle guard and the looper when the parts are in the same position; 7 Fig, 8 isan end View of the needle'guards and showing relation of needles thereto.

The invention is directed to a needle guard for sewing maehines and more partieularly to a needle guard adapted to vhe used in connection with athread carrying looper hiohis disposed so as to move back and form in the general direction of the line ofifee d and in a direction opposed to the feed When enteringv the needle thread loop;

My improved needle guard i s earried By the Work support and re" particularly by the throat plate mounted on the Work support. needle guard is mounted on a bar attached to the Work support or throat plate, bar is bent downwardly so as to space the" needle'guard from the under; side of the throat plate and provide cient room for the looper to move hack and forth above the needle giiard The machine to which myiinveetidn is applied is provided with a looper hieh not onl v nio les forward and back hiit also laterally during its forward and backward rnoveinent and therefore, said looper moves in a eurvedpath. The means; foroper'ating the looper is so timed that the; pathof the looper on its rearward novenientis tlie sanie as the path of the loopeii on its forward nioi e nent and this curved path so positioned that the point of the looper niovejs from one sid'eof the needle to theother and thus carries the looper thread to the op} posits side of the needle. The looper as it is retracted is positioned so as to perifnit the needleto pass between the thread and the body ofthe looper. o a

The patent granted to L. Onderdonk, March 2, 1920, No l,332,{l l7, shows a machine hia vingja looperwhich ino ieshaoli and forth, in the manner above desoriloedfland niv iinproved needle guard is especially adaptedto he used in connection with said looper and perniit the movement of the looper asjspeoified. v w h g The needle guard is located beneath the point of the looper it passes the needle and is so positioned as to prevent the needle from ,being deflected into the path oi the looper. v v e Referring more in detail to the drawings, the machine consists of a Work support l, carrying a threat plate 2. A. needle 3 is mounted in a needle bar 4 Which is reciprocated inthe usual manner. The material is held on the Work support by a presser foot 5" and is fed across the worksupport by a feed dogfi. (lo-operating With the. needle beneath the Work support is a thread carrying looper 7. As aniatter of fact, I have shown in the drawings a sewing machine having four needles 3 and four thread carrying loopers 7, one for each needle.

These thread carrying loo-pers 7 are moved back and forth in the general direction of the line of feed and the loopers move forward in a direction opposed to the feed as they enter their respective needle thread loops. The throat plate is provided with slots 8, in which the feeding section of the feed dog 6 works. The throat plate is also provided with needle openings 9, through which the needles pass. On the underside of the throat plate there is a bar 10 which is secured at 11 and 12 to the throat plate by suitable screws 1313, the lower.ends of which are shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The bar 10 is provided with laterally provjecting lugs in which the screws 18 are threaded. The bar 10 throughout thegreater portion of its length between the lugs at the ends thereof, is spaced from the throat plate, as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. Projecting rearwardly from this bar 10 are the needle guards 14. There is, of course, one needle guard for each needle. These needle guards are located alongside of the needle opening 9, there being one guard for each needle opening. As clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7, there is a space above the needle guards and beneath the throat plate into which the loopers move. The looper as it follows its curved path of travel crosses the needle guard and. this space permits this movement of the looper relative to the needle guard. The needle guard is so positioned, that is, beneath the point of the looper when the needle enters the needle thread loop, and is on the same side of the looper as passed by the looper at this time. As a result the needle guard prevents the needle from being deflected or bent so as to be struck by the looper as it moves forward into the needle thread loop. In this particular type of .machine where the looper moves back and forth in the same path and yet positions its thread on the opposite side of the needle from that passed by the looper as it enters the needle thread loop, the looper must move very close to the needle and any slight deflection of the needle is likely to bring it into the path of the looper. My improved needle guard, however, prevents this lateral deflectionof the needle and insures that the looper will pass the needle without striking the same. The needle guard being supported by the throat plate provides a construction which is free from any obstructing parts beneath the work support. It also makes a very durable structure and one in which the proper position of the needle guards relative to the needles which pass through the needle openings in the throat plate may be readily obtained and maintained.

It will be noted that the needle guards are slightly curved on their upper faces to permit proper clearance for the points of the looper, and said needle guards are cut away on their under faces adjacent the points thereof, so that the section adjacent the needle is reduced to a minimum for accomplishing the function described.

The needle guard is also rounded off at 14 to insure that the'needle will pass the guard.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: I

1. The combination of a throat plate having slots in which feed dogs operate for feeding the material, andalsohaving needle openings adjacent the feed slots for needles set in a line at right angles to lines passing longitudinally through the feed slots, a

thread carrying looper adapted to cooperate with each needle and movable in a line longitudinally of the feed slots when entering a needle thread loop, a needleguard for each needle, said needle guards being carried by the throat plate and each'located beneath the point of the looper with which it is associated when the looper is passing a needle,

'whereby said guard operates to prevent the needle with which it is associated from being deflected into the path of the looper with which it cooperates.

2. The combination of a throat plate having a plurality of feed slots formed therein,

and a plurality of needle openings adjacent the feed slots and arranged in a line at right angles to lines extending longitudinally through the feed slots, a thread carrying looper adapted to cooperate with each needle and movable in a line longitudinally of the feed slots when entering a needle thread loop, a bar secured .to the throat plate and extending transversely'across the feed slots, said bar being spaced from the throat plate, a plurality of needle guards mounted on said bar, said needle guards being also spaced from the throat plate and each located beneath the point of the looper with which it is associated when the looper is passing a needle,-whereby said guard operates to prevent the needle with which it is associated from being deflected into the path of the looper with which said needle cooperate-s.

3. The combination of a throat plate having a plurality of feed slots formed therein, and a plurality of needle openings adjacent the feed slots and arranged in a line at right angles to lines extending longitudinally through the feed slots, a thread carrying looper adapted to-cooperate with each needle and movable in a line longitudinally of the extending transversely across the feed slots, said bar being spaced from the throat plate, a plurality of needle guards mounted on said her, said needle guards being also spaced from the throat plate and each located beneath the point of the looper With which it is associated when the looper is passing a needle, whereby said guard operates to prevent the needle with which 1t 1s associated from being deflected into the path of the 10 ture.

JOHN E. GHALMAN.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signal5 

